Connection Part III
Posted on Mon Nov 25th, 2024 @ 12:10am by Commodore Tyler Malbrooke & Lieutenant Junior Grade Rachel Sinclair
Edited on on Mon Nov 25th, 2024 @ 10:14pm
1,248 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission:
Episode 16 - Silent Cries
Location: The Quarters of Rachel Sinclair - Deck 3 - USS Pioneer
Timeline: MD004 0100 hrs
Stepping into her now private quarters, Rachel was feeling rather exhausted from the events that had just occurred onboard the ship. Not only had the senior staff been essentially kidnapped, leaving the 2XO's of all departments to pick up the slack and keep the ship running, but the CO himself had been compromised by some kind of entity, and to top it all off, she'd just been promoted to Lieutenant JG for her actions retaking the ship.
Right now, Rachel had filed her last report for the day and was looking forward to a good nights sleep. Choosing to skip the sonic shower, she stripped off her clothes and crawled onto her bed, rested her head onto her pillow and quickly faded off to sleep.
The Silence had made contact with the Pioneer. The only beings that knew of them in the entire galaxy. However, so far their mission to obtain assistance was failing. They hoped this failure would end as they made contact with another member of the Pioneer.
The image of a tall, lanky being who wore a black suit in the style of Earth from the 1920s could be seen. It had dark and sunken in eyes, and no mouth. The words it spoke was heard directly in Rachel's head. "You are the Pioneer, we are The Silence. You will remember, you must remember."
Rachel suddenly felt like she was standing in a black void with the only source of light coming from behind this tall figure. "Remember? what am I remembering?" she asked, feeling a little disoriented.
"You will remember us. The Silence... You are not like the others we cannot make you forget. Tell them to come and stop the noise. Restore the order from chaos... Restore the Silence." The being advanced through the darkness toward Rachel. The light followed as if it were a spotlight. "We are the Silence you will ignore the warnings and return to our world."
Rachel was still confused, "The Silence? Wait, what world? I've never heard of your people" she asked, starting to put a few pieces together. Clearly these people were asking for help, even though she didn't understand what they were talking about.
"We know that you do not remember. We are The Silence..." These words were projected into Rachel's head. They had the tone about them as if she overstated the obvious. "...But, now you will remember. You will know us, for you are of the Pioneer. The Pioneer knows us. Your view is singular, and not collective. We are collective... We are The Silence, you are The Pioneer."
Rachel stood there processing their words for a moment. I’m singular? They’re collective? Collective…..hive mind! she thought to herself as something clicked into place, “oh, I think I get it. You’re all of one mind so you can’t think in terms of the singular. But wait, why would the Pioneer know? The ship knows? Hmm” she said, thinking out loud as she started pacing back and forward.
"You are the Pioneer. We are the Silence! The Silence will fall." These words were projected into Rachel's mind with emotions of fear and anxiety. They implored Rachel to get help.
“Oh wait, not the ship, the crew! They must have come across these silence before I transferred on board. So there must be something in the computer database” Rachel said, as she turned back to the silence with a hopeful look on her face before pausing for a moment, “but you said that you know that we don’t remember. Why don’t we remember?”
"The Pioneer made the oath. The word was given for them to become one with the Silence, to be silent." The being tilted its head quizzickly. The Silence did not understand why she asked these questions when she was one of the Pioneer. The Silence dug into Rachel's very thoughts, her memories in an attempt to learn a method to convey what was at stake. When they found one they spoke again. "Our very thoughts are killing us. The Silence will fall..."
"made an oath to become silence? no, to become silent. They were sworn to secrecy. That must be why I haven't heard of you before." Rachel concluded, before she mimicked the Silence's head tilt, "your thoughts are killing you? A highly telepathic race then, and clearly a little xenophobic. Like the First Federation I guess."
Tilting her head back up straight, Rachel gave the Silence a smile, "well then, we can't ignore a call for help. How do we find you again? If the information is hidden, or highly classified, I'm not sure how we can find your homeworld."
"The one who is the head of many on the Pioneer. They agreed to place a warning at our planet. A warning that would keep the silence, prevent others from looking. Follow their warning or the Silence will fall." The being projected the image of their planet into Rachel's mind. This planet was a class M world but there seemed to be no evidence of civilization on the surface. There was an intense pain that accompanied this image. The Silence attempted to convey everything all at once, but Rachel's brain could not handle all of the information. "Save us... The Silence will fall..."
Reeling from the pain, Rachel tried to focus her mind. The Image of the planet seemed the best one to focus on as it seemed the most important part to remember. "Ok ok, I think i've got everything. Please stop, it's too much"
The images, and information continued to flood into Rachel's mind as the pain continued to build. But then suddenly it all stopped. The being stood there with its head cocked to one side almost quizzicaly. "We know that most of that which makes up the Pioneer will not remember. They will not know... But you must prevent it. Prevent the fall."
Taking a few moments to recover, Rachel stood back up and looked this Silence figure straight in the......face? "I understand, The Pioneer will save your people, we will prevent the fall. You have my word"
The being's head tilted again, this time in the other direction. There seemed a moment where The Silence would say more. But, before any words could be spoken a large purple hand that looked more like a claw reached out and grabbed the being's head. The hand squeezed and the head burst like a piece of fruit. Blueish, gray blood covered Rachel as she stood in the darkness of her dream world. The now lifeless body dropped to its knees and then crumpled on the floor at her feet.
The splatter of fluids shocked Rachel awake, almost immediately she started wipeing at her face in a panicked effort to remove the liquid. Though unintentional, the splatter had dug up a long forgotten memory of the day her home was attacked and she was taken as a slave. Quickly jumping off of the bed, she practically sprinted to the shower and started washing herself down.
Rachel sat there in the shower for almost an hour before her mind finally processed what she’d just seen.
A Joint Post By
The Silence
Silence Will Fall
Lieutenant Junior Grade Rachel Sinclair
Assistant Chief Security/Tactical Officer, USS Pioneer
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